Means for and method of assembling composite heel blanks



Nov. 24, 1925- 1,563,103

D. PARKS MEANS FOR AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLING COMPOSITE HEEL BLANKS Filed Jan. 31.- 1924 latented Nov, 2d, 1925,

ortica.

DENNIS PARKS, F LOUS, MISSOURI.

Application Vfiled January 3l, 1924.

To @ZZ 'w/lom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Dennis Panne, a citizen ot the United States, residing in the cityiot St. Louis and State oi' Missouri, have 5 invented new and usetnl improvements in Means for and Methods of Assembling Composite Heel Blanks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the art ot making` composite heels, comprisingl a leather base and a rubber tread or heel, and has special reference to improved means l'or centering the rubber heel on the leather base in assembling, and to a novel method of procedure by which the rubber heel is maintained in its position on the leather' base in the movement of ,the heel blank through the container' in which the partsl are assembled. In proceeding* according to my invention,

a container, such as is usedv in the well-known operation ot log building, and oit a ny desired length, is employed, such container having` the general outline of a heel-blank. The

rubber heel is first inserted. in the container 95 and then a leather lift or base, having paste applied to its flatside, is positioned on top of the rubber heel with the randed side of the base or lift uppermost, and then a plunger is operated to torce the composite heel downward a given distance in the con tainer.

In practicing' this process, due to the tact that, after the heelblank is made it must be trimmed `and shaped as to its leather portion, the'leather base or lift'is larger than the rubber heel and, therefore, projects beyondthe same. It was soon found, in practice, that considerable care had to bey exercised to properly position the` leather base on the rubber heelso that the twomembers would be centered with reference to each other. It was also found that as the heelblank, composed of the leather base and rubber heel, was l'orced downward in the container', relative movement between the two parts would occur, so that when the heel-blank emerged from thebottom oi' the container, the leather base would not pron ject uniformly from the sides of the rubber.

project farther from the edge of the rubber heel at one side than at the other, with the result that when the heel was trimmed, more of the rand would be cut ott on one heel. In other words, the leather base wouldV Serial No. 689,790.

side than on the other, so that the randed surface would be higher at one side of the heel than at the other.

To overcome this objection, i have devised x the means and method of procedure hereini after described, whereby the leather base will be initially positioned correctly on the rubber heel, and the two parts will be mainon top of the rubber heel and the plunger operated to force the two members downward, the guide members are engaged by the leather base, owing to its largerv area, and opened or moved outwardly to permit the passage by them oi the leather base, after which they automatically move inward to engage over the upper edge surface of the leather base to prevent any upward movement of the heel blank resulting;` 'from the natural spring ot the material, especially the* rubber after the pressure oil the plunger has beenremoved. v

As to the method involved, the invention resides in assembling a composite heel blank of leather andrubber, in which the leather base is provided with a concaved upper side, whereby when the rubber heel is inserted on this concaved side of the leather baschi the operation of making an-` other heel blank, the lower edges ot the rnbber heel will engage the inclined wall ot the concave'd side of the leather base and thus be prevented iiomf'lateral movement.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying' drawing, in which Figure l is a vertical sectional view illustrating; a portion of a machine of the typekl.

prefer to employ in making the heel blanks,

and showing a number of heel blanks within the container of said machine;

Figure 2 1s a plan view looklng downward at the top of the container and showing a' `tional view to illustratctl'ie manner in which the lower side of the rubber heel seats in the concaved portion oi the preceding` leather base.

The machine shown in Figure 1 is of a well-known type, and will be tound 'fully illustrated and described in the patent to Parks, No. 1,297,899, dated March 18th, 1919, and also in my pending application, Serial No. 658,853, filed August 23rd, 1923. Only sufficient of this machine is shown to illustrate the operation. It comprises, essentially, a cross-head 1. which is continuously reciprocated by a cam 2, working ajcgainst a roller 3, mounted at the upper end of the cross-head, the roller beineT held in Contact with the cam by means of a coil spring' 4,

` and the cam beine` rotated by means of a power shat 5. Suspended onthe cross-head by hooks G is an actuating' plate 7, which is normally drawn inward to ard a plunger trame 8 by means oi coil springs 9, connected at their upper ends to the actuatingr plate and at their lower ends to the cross-head. Pirotally mounted at 10 on thecross-head is a dog 11, having` a hook 12 at its lower end'. which is adapted to engage a lua 13 on the upper part ot the actuating plate 7, this movement being effected, in a certain position of the plate, by coil springs 14e, connected at their lower ends to the cross-head and at their upper ends to projections 15 on said dog'. The said dog isA also provided with a handle 16 for releasing it from engagement with the lue` 13. The plunger frame 8 is: provided on its Ytrout tace. with a shoulder 17, adapted to be engaged by the lower ednje `of the actuatincj plate 'fand has A`mounted on its lower side a presser head 18.

lrlounted in line with this presser head, below it, is a container 19 consisting. essentiallygot a front or breast plate 20 and two angle bars 2l (Figure 2),the breast olate and angle bars confininga an area of substantially the size of the heel blankto be inserted. The contanten-as awhole, is supported on a' table 22. which is adjustable as to hei nht by means of' set. screws 28. The plunger frame 8 has connected to it pull rods 211. which extend downwardto a treadle not shown).

Assuming;a a heel lift to have been assembled on top of the container 19. the treadle is depressed to lower the presser headl 18 into engagement with the top of the heel blank. VVhenr this occurs, the shoulder 17 on the plunger :trame passes below the plane of the bottom of. the actuatinegplat'e/T. The operator now ,gfrasps the handle 16 and pulls it outward to move' the hook 12 out of en- ,sagement with the don 13 when the springs 9 act to throw the lower end of plate 7 inward above the shoulder l?, and as the crosshead moves downward under the action ot cani 2, the presser head will be moved downward to force the heel blank downward in the container. rhe parts auton'latically assume the position shown in Figure 1 when the cross-head moves upward.

In order to center the rubber heel with respect to the leather base, 1 provide thc construction now to be described, referring' particularly to Figures 2 and Il.

Secured within the container at the corner ot each oi" the angle bars 21 is a spring; armv 25. havingv at its upper end a head 26. provided on its inner side with an inclined tace 27, which terminates in the plane olI a shoulder 28. The sprintY arms 25 with the heads 2G 'torni two fr? the j-,v'icldingr ruidos or centering` devices 'for positioning the rubber heel. The other two centering; devices are located toward the front of the container on either side thereof, and each comprises a Jell-crank 29 pivotally mounted 30 on an adjustable bracket plate 31. one arml2 el said bell-crank haring' a head 33, provided with an inclined inner tace 34e projecties! into the container, and the other arm having); a cup bearing` 3G in its outer end. which houses a coil spring; 37, the lower end ot which'bears a-,e'ainst the base ot the plate 31. This spring normally holds the head in its inward' or' guiding position, as shown by Figure 8.

Adjusting screws 38', passing; through slots in the wall 2O of the container and engaging; in the bracket plates 31, enable the bellcranks or centering devices 29 to be adjusted for different sizes of heel blanks.

rFhe normal positions of the centering' heads 28 and is such that when a rubber heel inserted in thc spacebetwcen them. il will be properly positioned therebv by simple engagement with the faces oli the heads and canfbe tor-ced past the heads with out moving them.

Inoperation, a rubberheel. R9, having been positioned between the centering devices, as' shown in Figure 3. a leather lit't or base 40, having,` paste applied to its under surface, is then placed in position over the rubber heel. This leather base will be positioned by thc'inuer edges of; the angle bars 21 and by the side walls oi the container at the front, as shown by Figure 2, and it will rest upon the inclined faces 84: of heads 33. The presser head 18 beine; lowered in the manner heretofore described, the rubber heel will be moved past the heads 33 and the leather base t() will engage the inclined sides of these heads and 'torce them outnfard. and the adjustment oic the movement ot the presser head isisuch that it reachesihrl termination of its downward' throw when the leather lift 4:0 passes beyond the lower edge of the heads 26 and 33. The heads 33 are provided with shoulders ll, and when the ycomposite heel blank has reached the posin tion shown by Figure 3, the heads 26 and 33 will be forced inward so that the shoulders 28 and 4l will engage over the upper edge portion of the leather base and thereby prevent any upward movement of the heel blanks, due to the spring of the material. This insures that the leather base and rubber heel will beinaintained in firm engagement with each other at all times during the passage of the hee-lblanksy through the container so as to cause them to be firmly united.

`As shown by Figures l and 3, the rubber heel is of slightly less width and length than the leather base, and, except at the breast of the heel blank, the leather base projects be yond the sides of the rubber heel1 It is obvious, therefore, that the rubber heel is not in `engagement with the wall of the container except, perhaps, at the breast thereof, and that, unless means be provided for preventing` it, the rubber heels in the container might become displaced in their passage through the container before the paste has had time to set and secure them firmly to the respective leather bases.

By assembling the parts of the heel blank in the manner described above, I am enabled, by taking advantage of the smaller size of the rubber heel relative to the leather base and of the concavity aorded by the randed side of the leather base, to insure that the rubber heel will always be maintained in its centered position on the leather base in the passage of the heel blanks through the container, or until the paste is set. This feature of the invention will be more clearly apparent from the detail section al view of Figure t, which shows parts of twosuperimposed heel blanks. As shown in this figure, cach of the leather bases has on its upper side a rand l2 cxtending,as usual, around the outer edge portion of the leather base, which rand, as is well known, provides a concaved seat 43 o-n the upper side of the leather base. By placing the rubber heel in the container first and then positioning the leather base on the rubber heel with its concaved side upward, I can place the succeeding` heel within this concaved seat, the wall of which latter, engaging the lower edge of the rubber heel. offers sumcient resistance, owing to the incline of the wall, to lateral movement of the rubber heel to prevent displacement thereof relative to the leather base on which it seats.

I have found` in practice, that this method ofV procedure insures against any relative movement between the rubber heel and leather base of :each heel blank, so that as the `heel blanks emerge from the bottom of `the container, the leather base and rubber heel of each heel blank will have the same relative position giventhem by the giiiides at the top of the container.

I claim:

l. In a. machine for use in assembling composite heel blanks of rubber and leather, in combination with a container for receiving and maintaining the heel blanks in eol umn formation and a movable presser head for forcing the heel blanks downward in the container, a series of yielding guide members located at the top of the container and adapted when at rest to position the rubber heel inserted in the container and movable to permit "the passage by them of a leather base applied to the rubber heel and larger than the same.

2. In a machine for use in assembling the parts of a composite heel blank of leather and rubber in which the leather member is larger than the rubber, in combination with a container for receiving and maintaining the heel blanks in columnfformation and a` movable presser head for forcing the heel blanks downward in the container, means for positioning` the leather base in the container, and yieldable centering devices nor mally projecting within the confines of the area occupied by the leather base and operating when at rest to center the rubber heel in the container.

3. In a machine for use in assembling the parts of a composite heel blank of leather and rubber in which the leather member is largerv than the rubber, in combination with a container for receiving and maintaining the heel blanks in column formation and a movable presser head for forcing the heel blanks downward in the container, stationary means for positioning the leather base in the container, and yieldable centering devices normally projecting within the con fines of the area occupied by the leather base and operating),` when at rest to center the rubber heel in the container. y

1l. In a machine for use in assembling the parts of a composite heel blank of leather and rubber in which the leather member is larger than the rubber, in combination with a container for receiving and maintaining the heel blanks in column formation and a movable presser head for forcing the heel blanks downward in the container, means for positioning the leather base inthe container, and yieldable centering `devices and operating when at rest to center the rubber heel in the container, each of said devices presenting on its inner side an inclined face normally projecting within the confines of the area occupied by the leather base.

5. In a machine for uscin assembling the parts of a composite heel blank of leather and rubber in which the leather member is larger than the rubber, in combination with a container for receiving and maintaining the heel blanks in column formation and a movable presser head for forcing the heel blanks downward in the container, means -for positioning the leather base in the containen and yieldable centering devices and operating when at rcst to center the rubber heel in the container, each ot said devices having a head aitording a shoulder for engaging over the leather base and an inclined face normally projecting within the conlines of the area occupied by the leather base.

G. ln a machine for use in assembling ll'he parts or a composite heel blank ot' leather and rubber in which the leather member is larger than the rublger, in combination with a container for receiving and maintaining the heel blanlrs in column formation and a movable presser head for forcing the heel blanks downward in the container, means for positioning the leather base in the container, and spring-controlled centering devices and operating when at rest to center the rubber heel in the container, each ot' said centering devices presenting an inclined face normallyT projecting within the confines of the area occupied by the leather base.

7. In a machine for use in assembling the parts of a composite heel blank of leather and rubber in which the leather member is larger than the rubber, in combination with a container for receiving and maintaining the heel blanks in column 'formation and a ,scales movable presser head lor forcing 'the heel blanks downward in the container, means for positioning thc leather base in the ccntainer, spring-controlled means located, respectively, at the breast and rear side of said container and operatingl when at rest to center the rubber heel in the container, each ot said deyices presenting an inclined 'ta-ce normally projecting` within the contines of the area occupied by the leather base, and means Yfor adjusting the position of the centering ilerices located at tbe breast side of the container to increase or decrease the space delimited thereby.

8. ln tbe art oic manufacturing composite heel blanks, consisting of a leather base and rubber heel, and in which the rubber heel is of less area than the leather base, the method which consists in positioning a rubber heel in a container, superimposmg the flat side ot a randed leather litt or base on the rubber heel with the interposition of paste, forcing the assembled members downward 'in the container, positioning` a rubber heel on the concayed side of the leather lift or base and within the concavity formed by the rand thereof, then Lasting a leather base to the last-named rubber heel, and continuing the Jforegoing operations.

ln testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

DENNIS PARKS. 

